Masquerade
by Promise Me Infinity
Summary: Keiko's parents are out of town, and Botan organizes a masquerade that is planned perfectly. And with costumes to pick out, food and drinks to scour, and youkai that are new to the ningen holiday, this masquerade is going to be one party to remember...
1. Prologue

_~A/N My debut fanfiction. Enjoy! ^^_

_~Masquerade~_

The cool, October night breeze gently danced along through Takatsuki, Japan. The bright, silver crescent in the dark sky illuminated the seemingly desolate town, a creepy addition to the many ghoulish statues and Jack-o-lanterns that were spread out across the city. Very little stores had their neon lights on, but only a fraction of the slim pickings were really open.

A young lady with unnaturally coloured hair walked down a lonely street, hunched and shivering. Her facial features were soft and gentle as the pink hue matched her pleather, button-up jacket. Her wavy cerulean locks had been tightly pulled up into a ponytail, dancing with the chilly wind. The bluenette had bright pink earmuffs that fit perfectly on her head, and they had went well with her jacket. Her white rubber boots made a hushed squishing sound as she swaggered down the empty street.

Her amethyst orbs were staring at the cement walkway as frozen wisps of her light blue hair fell onto her blushing cheeks. In a weak effort to remain warm, she stuffed her numbing hands into her pockets and sniffled softly. As she continued down the street, she suddenly saw a faint shadow of her hunched figure out of the corner of her eye. Lazily, she lifted her head up at the slightest as a faint smile played around in her soft lips.

A ramen house had bright lights that shone through the shingles, and a fading green neon sign had read, **OPEN**. Her destination, and virtually, the only civilization in the darkened town, had finally been reached. The young, naïve woman felt a tinge of relief dab on her body as she quickened her pace, feeling glad that she had finally reached the designated area at last. As she stood in front of the wobbly screen door, she inhaled a large intake of breath and, although reluctant, took out her pale, icy hand and grasped onto the frosty handle and gently tugged on the door.

The whimsical sound of aging bells had filled the silent restaurant as a blast of warm air brushed against the bluenette's cheeks. Her relieved grin grew wider as she shuddered gratefully, taking in all the warm, toasty air. She sniffled once more and moaned satisfyingly, closing her eyes lightly. The scent of spicy beef ramen, kimchee stew, and many more cooked delicacies wafted into her runny nostrils, causing her to smack her lips as her stomach growled quietly.

"Konnichiwa, and welcome to Yukimura's! Arigatou gozaimasu for- Oh, Botan-chan!," a soft, feminine voice cried out cheerfully. "You're here!" The young lady, Botan, gave her friend a toothy grin, even though her teeth were chattering rather loudly. She shot the brunette behind the counter a peace sign as she sauntered over to a wooden stool that sat directly in front of her good friend.

"Konnichiwa, Keiko-chan," Botan said in a much softer, yet equally enthusiastic tone, seating herself comfortably on the slightly wobbling stool. She sniffed the air, tilting her head upwards at an angle, and could feel her stomach rumble. "That smells delicious… What is it that you're cooking?" Keiko gave out a small mewl and immediately turned her back to Botan as she scrambled to try and stir her stew, which began to bubble.

"Kimchee stew… I got hungry," Keiko answered briskly as she began to rapidly stir the wooden spoon around the scorching pot. Botan's playful smirk took over her lips as she easily unbuttoned her jacket and placed it on the stool next to her. She got up onto the counter and swiveled her whole body around and jumped off the countertop, standing next to a busy Yukimura.

"Is there enough for two?," the perky young woman asked into Keiko's ear, scaring the poor girl as she jumped in place and, by accident, flung the spoon in the air before it landed onto the stove. A few burning droplets of the stew landed on both of the girls' forearms, and a screech of surprise escaped both of their lips as the droplets sizzled.

"Ahh! Gomenasai, Botan!," Keiko wailed as she frantically blew onto her arm, a vain effort to cool it down. Botan stared at the sizzling stew on her arm and cautiously stuck out the tip of her pink tongue and lapped up the spot. The Yukimura, grateful that her arm only burned for a few seconds, had gave her friend an apologetic look. Botan returned the glum look with a hungry expression. Sheepishly, she rubbed her growling tummy and pointed at her trembling lips.

"I'm hungry, and I'm pretty sure the food's done. Let's eat!"

~*~

After an umpteenth amount of apologies, and many licked-clean bowls of kimchee stew, the two satisfied girls had ran up to Keiko's room after making sure the front entrance, and back entrance, had been locked up so no one could harm the girls while in Keiko's room.

"… And of course, I had to tell the poor boy that I couldn't have any relationships with him because he was starting his journey to the Great Beyond," Botan proclaimed guiltily, hanging her head sadly as Keiko pushed her bedroom door open and switched on the light. She merely shrugged at her blue haired friend's story.

"Exactly. Did you tell him that?" Botan nodded glumly as the two women walked into the barren room. She heaved a long, heavy sigh as she plopped down onto the new Western bed. It squeaked quietly as Keiko sat on the floor, crossing her legs whilst doing so.

"Hai, I had to… But Keiko-chan, he was _so _cute! I could honestly say that I was tempted to give in to his offer of joining him in Heaven! He had noticeable dimples when he smiled… And he was adorable," she whined into one of Keiko's kitsune plushies. Keiko sighed softly, letting her long, naturally coffee brown hair hide her face.

"Hmm… Let's get off that subject with Jun, and let's start talking about… erm…" Keiko stopped talking suddenly and was side-tracked as her huge, creamy eyes went blank for a few moments. Botan huffed into the gray kit toy and rolled around onto her back, staring at the gray ceiling. "Huh! What _should _we talk about?," Keiko asked inwardly as life was brought back to her eyes. Botan stuck out her bottom lip and heard all these thoughts run through her mind. Almost instantly, she jumped up with a thoughtful look in her violet eyes as a smirk began to form. Her ponytail swished about as Botan's sudden movements forced Keiko to look at her friend with a startled expression. Thoughts of chaotic and apocalyptic destructions filled Yukimura's mind, knowing that the smirk meant Botan thought of some sort of plan that only her boyfriend could think up of.

"Hey, Keiko-chan, when are your parents coming back from Tokyo?" Keiko, completely thrown off at the question, looked thoughtful once more for a moment or two, and then shrugged, gently closing her eyelids as she brushed away some of her silky hair out of the way.

"Probably the 1st next month. At the latest, maybe the 5th." Botan malicious, unremorseful smirk caused Keiko to break out in a nervous sweat. Beads of the salty, sticky droplets slithered down her flustered cheeks as her chocolate eyes widened ever so slightly. "W-why?," she stammered without thinking. The bluenette suddenly turned from the evil witch to an innocent child. Botan snatched one of Keiko's plushies, this one an adorable blue bunny, and gave Keiko a very pitiful look; her eyes were gleaming with sadness, her bottom lip had stuck out once more, but it was quivering. Her mouth opened into a narrow slit and she murmured sweetly;

"Kay-chan…" The eyes… the quivering bottom lip… the sweet voice… the nickname… the added prop… Keiko added all of it together and stood up vehemtly, clenching her fists and changing her worried face into an angry expression. Her eyes showed fury and her face was hot.

"No way, Botan! Nu-uh! Not a chance!," Keiko shouted hotly, tightly closing her eyelids and flailing her arms across her chest multiple times. Botan flinched, but kept her straight face, determined to get her friend to break. "We're not doing that again! I had to drop out of swimming after we got caught!" The bluenette's bottom lip began to shake even more as she forced tears to well up in her pure violet eyes.

"Oh, Kay-chan, you don't even know what I'm thinking of," Botan whimpered out as she embraced the bunny a little bit more tighter, keeping it close to her bosom. Keiko's creamy irises flared wildly as a vein popped out on her forehead.

"Of _course_ I know what you're talkin' about, Botan! You want to throw a party here _again!_ Didn't the Easter party teach you that we're never having a party here again?! No parties!" Botan continued to stare at Yukimura, piercing her puppy-dog eyes into the furious woman. Keiko crossed her arms and swung her head to the right, refusing to look at the determined girl's face, acknowledging that she could easily give in to Botan's pestering with that innocent look in her eyes.

"Oh, so you know what I'm thinking… Please, Keiko-sama?," the bluenette pleaded softly, adding the honorific to show how much she respected her furious friend. "I promise I'll be good!" Keiko groaned irritably, flicking her long silk hair out of her face.

"Botan-chan, I'm not going to agree with this! Last time, those… those… Yusuke's friends came over and trashed the store," Keiko reminded her blue-haired friend with venom dripping off her words. "I got in so much trouble when my parents walked in on me and Yusuke in their room!" Botan let a silver tear stream down the side of her face as she struggled to contain the laughter that was developing in her throat.

"Kaaaaaaayko-chaaaaaaan," Botan droned on meticulously, rolling over to her back, releasing her grip on the stuffed animal as her ponytail hung over the edge of the Western mattress and gently brushing against the wooden floor. Keiko grunted, but Botan's determination began to ware off on the ningen, who began to shiver because of the strain on her arms, which began to tingle painfully. "Please, please, please, please, PLEASE throw a Halloween party here! I won't invite Jin, or Touya, or-or even Hiei! Just throw a costume party in the store!," Botan begged annoyingly.

"ALL RIGHT!!," Keiko shouted in a fiery tone, swiveling her head with a nasty glare on her usual gentle face. Botan jumped in surprise from sudden yell, and in a much gentle whisper, Keiko said, "We'll have a party here… But on one condition." Botan lit up at her brunette friend, but her face fell a smidge at the 'one condition.'

"Hai?" Keiko held up her painted pink index finger, a serious twinkle in her dark coffee eyes.

"Before I state the condition, remember that you did say that any of Yusuke's demonic friends, and Hiei, of course, won't come because you aren't inviting." Botan nodded vigorously, eager to hear the condition so she can begin to make plans. "Good. Now, the one condition I want is… You must help set up and take down decorations if we're gonna do this…" Botan emitted a loud, gleeful squeal as she rolled to her right side, letting the blood flow down to her body once more.

"Yay! Trust me, Keiko. This is going to be the BEST Halloween masquerade that has ever hit Takatsuki, Japan, ever! Just you watch! Now, where's the phone? I _must_ phone Shizuru and Genkai-sama about the party!," Botan chirped, jumping off the bouncy mattress and landing on her feet. She quickly scurried to the bedroom door and left, searching for a phone, leaving Keiko to sigh sadly.

"I know I can trust you, Botan-chan… That's why I'm afraid, because your parties can be just as bad as Yusuke's…"

~*~

_A/N 'Til next chapter, this is it! Lol, How'd I do? :)_


	2. Planners

Keiko and Botan both stood up in one of the rickety city buses, both wearing a light jacket and baggy, comfortable jeans as they chattered about some ideas for the party that was being talked about around some anonymous people. Botan's hair was styled down today, letting the curls fly free, while her brunette friend had her luscious dark curls were straightened and placed into two simple pigtails.

The jacket Botan was sporting was the same pleather jacket she had worn the night before, looking neat and almost brand-new, whilst Keiko wore a plain, throw-over midnight blue sweatshirt. Their loose-fitting flair jeans were held up together by a cheap brand of belts, which were tightly fastened on their slim waists. Although the sun was barely breaking through the puffy white clouds, the temperature was as low as 15° outside in the early morning.

"Well Keiko-chan, I'm glad that you're throwing this little 'masquerade' at your place," said Botan for the umpteenth time. Her tone was cheerful and perky, just like her personality. Keiko, although annoyed with her friend saying the same thing over and over again, could only smile at Botan's naïvety.

"Botan, remember, you were the one that wanted to throw the party," the brunette reminded her giddy girlfriend, who only squealed into her fist. Her eyes were tightly closed as she jumped in place, letting her hair bounce off her spine. Keiko could feel many of the citizens' eyes pierce her back, and, although reluctant, she glanced back.

Her eyes widened horrifyingly as she witnessed everybody on the bus, even noticing that the stout bus driver was staring at the girls, were staring awkwardly at the bluenette, who didn't bat an eye at their weird glances. Keiko snapped her entire body back to Botan, who was still doing her little dance. She gently tugged on Botan's sleeve as the stares continued to pierce the two.

"Botan-chan… People are staring…," Keiko cautioned warily, trying to dissipate the many stares by calming her bubbly friend down considerably. Though Botan did heed her friend's subtle warning and stopped her movements, she did quietly cry happily into her balled up hands.

"This is going to be such a fun party, Keiko-chan!," Botan proclaimed cheerfully as the bus squeaked agonizingly loudly to a complete stop. Keiko chuckled nervously as the two began their way to the opened doors as the weirded-out glances had quickly disappeared, much to Yukimura's relief. As the two exited the old bus, the two young women instantly shivered softly, letting their teeth chatter.

"W-well, l-let's g-ga-go off t-ta-to the T-t-temple!," Botan stammered, still sounding as joyful as usual. Keiko nodded enthusiastically, eager to find warmth before she froze to death. Shoving their gloved hands into their warm jacket pockets, the two friends began to carefully jog into the vast amount of trees.

~*~

After a few slip-ups on the way to their destination, Botan and Yukimura both saw a long, almost endless amount of icy stone steps, which silently told the two that they were really close. Botan nudged at her shuddering friend as a Cheshire grin grew on her slightly discoloured lips.

"Ja-just up the steps a-and wa-we'll be there," she murmured victoriously. Keiko could only nod, knowing that her voice could come out scratchy and dry. Very carefully, they quickened their pace up the steps, doing their best to avoid the ice patches that seemed to taunt them as they made their way up the steps. Reaching the top, Botan faintly saw a petite blue figure standing on the top step. Gratefully, she waved at the figure almost instantly, giggling as the figure morphed into a young girl.

"Y-Yukina-chan! Konnichiwa!," the bluenette cried out joyously before she sniffled softly. The lone figure, Yukina, smiled gratefully and waved enthusiastically. As the two women met up with the ice apparition, they both noticed that she wasn't red, or freezing cold, like themselves. In fact, she didn't seem affected by the snow that had fallen the previous nights before. Botan ignored that fact, well aware that Yukina was an ice youkai, and had the power to manipulate ice, obviously.

"K-konnichiwa, Yukina-chan," Keiko stuttered out happily as she embraced the young girl, who wrapped her frail arms around the brunette just as enthusiastically. Botan smiled at their friendly affection for each other as she felt a cool hand grasp gently onto her own hand. She knew the pale hand belonged to Yukina, and she gently squeezed back as the trio of women started on their way to the temple ahead.

"Shizuru-chan is already inside… She didn't want to be alone last night because Kazuma-san was at Yusuke-san's house for the night," Yukina declared as they entered the temple doors. The women ningen women, eager to feel warmth surround their quivering bodies, watched as an elderly woman opened the grande doors of the ancient temple.

"Genkai-sama!," Botan chirped as she bowed respectfully for the powerful elder, as did the other two girls. The old woman, Genkai, had smirked at their youthful innocence and turned her back to the girls, letting them in. They sped up their pace and dashed for an opened door that was right down the darkened hallway, to which a tall, lean woman with ruffled autumn hair that reached an inch below her waist. A softened smile danced on her lips as she motioned for them to come in as she made her way inside the toasty warm room.

~*~

"So, what's the scoop on this little 'masquerade' that our little cheerful ferry onna has told me so much about?," the tall woman asked smoothly as she began to brush out that knots that had formed during the night. Botan squealed excitedly as Keiko let out a soft chuckle. Yukina blinked in curiosity as she swiveled her head to Yukimura.

"A 'masquerade?' What's that?," she asked in her innocent tone, scooting her rump towards the brunette before hugging her knees, bringing them close to her small chest. Her ruby red irises had a twinkle in them that matched the curiosity that infused in her tone. Keiko shrugged lazily as she started to relax on the dusty wooden floor.

"It's just a fancy way of saying 'costume party,' Yukina-chan. I think, though, that the difference between the two phrases is that the term 'costume party' relates more to Halloween," Keiko informed her friend, "and that 'masquerade' can refer to anytime of the year." The ice apparition blinked once more, and nodded slowly as the meaning of her friend's lecture sunk into her brain.

"I see…" She turned her attention to the lean woman, who was struggling with her mussed hair. "Have you ever been to a 'masquerade,' Shizuru-chan?" Shizuru glanced at her youkai friend and nodded slightly in reply before going back to her hair. "Was it fun?" Shizuru nodded once more as she began to tear out hair strands straight from the scalp. Yukina gasped quietly and got on her knees. "I'll do it, Shizuru-san! You're hurting yourself if you do it so rough." Shizuru gave her a grateful smile as the young youkai took the violet hairbrush from her friend's hands and started to brush out the twists and knots. Keiko took this as an opportunity to get a few words in.

"OK, so we know for sure that we have two guests that are for sure coming to drop by the party," the Yukimura offspring said crisply as she jotted down Shizuru and Yukina's names onto a piece of notebook paper. Shizuru stared nervously at her brunette pal as she raised her hand slightly.

"Umm, Keiko, sweetie?," said Shizuru in a quiet, shaky voice. Keiko brought her head up from the notebook and stared at Shizuru quizzically. "I, uh… invited a few people over already for the party…" Both Keiko and Botan looked giddy as they began to question who, exactly, the elder Kuwabara invited. She gulped down a mewl that was making her throat thick.

"Erm… Well, let's talk about that later; let's get down into the actual planning of the party, you know? Like the time, the food and beverages, and etcetera," she said dryly, easily changing the subject. Much to her relief, the girls were eager to start on the other subjects for the masquerade.

"Mmm, we definitely need to have some of Atsuko's 'special' drinks for the party," Botan said thoughtfully as she pressed her index finger against her bottom lip and stared at Keiko hopefully. Keiko seemed shocked at the gesture, and shook her head disapprovingly. Botan groaned sadly as Keiko began to scold her cheerful friend about the downsides of drinking liqueur. Shizuru rolled her eyes and inconspicuously snatched the notebook and pen that lay next to the Yukimura child.

"Hai, we're having something to drink, Keiko," the brunette stated in an apathetic tone as she began to jot down brand names for liqueur. Keiko gasped and did her best to try and take back what was rightfully hers as Botan cheered Shizuru on. Yukina, not very sure why the others were upset about beverages, let go of Shizuru's hair and tried to squeeze herself in between the tussling.

"Please, you two," begged the youkai, trying to push Keiko off of Shizuru as the tallest member of the group struggled to write down more things for their little party, "let's not fight. I beg of you!" The ice apparition exchanged glances with the girls, who saw the seriousness in her ruby red orbs. The two girls came to a mutual agreement after staring at their gentle pal and Shizuru reluctantly returned the thick notebook to the younger woman, who gratefully took it back.

"We'll have something to drink, Shizuru-chan," said Keiko painfully as she began to jot down even more alcoholic drinks onto the neat lines of the paper. Shizuru nodded, but held up a finger warily.

"Fine, but no fire whiskey. That's way too strong, even for someone like me," Shizuru said in a crisp tone as Keiko began to jot down, 'Atsuko's alcohol.' Yukina hadn't the slightest idea what 'special drinks' her friend's boyfriend's mother had in store for the party, but was relieved that the wrestling for the notebook had stopped.

"Ooh, we'll also have to borrow a stereo and get some tunes for it," enthused the lighter haired brunette as her demonic friend began to braid her long, now tangible hair. Botan agreed cheerfully as she straightened her posture, feeling her light blue hair swish and dance around her back as she began to think of music to bring.

"Hey, in order to add more spookiness to the party, we should bring in metal songs, like Maximum the Hormone albums, some Cloud songs, and maybe even that Polish band, Behemoth!," the bluenette squeaked out as her amethyst eyes twinkled with happiness. Keiko nodded and quickly wrote it down as the two women started to exchange ideas for the party.

~*~

Outside, a relatively small, rogue youkai sat silently in a dying tree, listening intently to every word that came out from the women's mouths. His curiosity grew a little when he had heard the term, 'masquerade.' He let his head rest against the cool bark of the decaying sakura tree as a few questions popped up in his mind, which nipped at him coldly like how the morning air nipped at his cheeks.

"'Masquerade?' What the hell is that?" His glowing crimson eyes stared out to the seemingly empty temple as he emitted a grunt from the hollow of his raw throat. "Hmph. Like it's any business of mine. Still…" A soft green energy seemed to sprinkle the air around his head as the form of an eye appeared. Its ki focused on young Yukina, who seemed cheerful as she fixed Shizuru's hair. "_She's_ going to this 'costume party,' and I must make sure nothing happens to her…" He stood up then as he brought a slightly dirty white bandana up to cover his third eye, tying the ends in a tight knot, as his gaze remained focused on the temple.

"I'll go find that fox. I know _he _knows what a 'masquerade' is…" With those parting words, he turned his little body away from the ancient building and flitted off, disappearing into the treetops.

~*~

Inside, the quartet was continuing to make plans for the Halloween bash, when all of a sudden, a low, threatening rumble was heard groaning in the upbeat room, causing it to grow deathly quiet. After a couple of seconds, the growling continued. Shizuru and Keiko looked at the other two girls, with the ice apparition rubbing her stomach tenderly with a sheepish look in her crimson drops.

"Gomen… Genkai-sama and I haven't eaten this morning… Did you three eat yet?," asked Yukina curiously, starting to get onto her feet. That's when even more rumbles joined in with Yukina's stomach, creating an orchestra of simultaneous groaning and gentle giggles. "I'll assume that was a yes… I'll go and make something for breakfast." With that, the naïve youngster made her way to the door as the girls settled down and went back to their little list.

"OK," Keiko announced seriously as soon as their youkai friend had closed the sliding door, "are we _really _going to get drunk at my house? I mean, Yukina-chan has no clue what alcohol even is!," the brunette shouted out vehemtly. Shizuru hissed at her to stay quiet, whilst the ferry onna slapped a hand over Yukimura's mouth, knowing that a nervous look was spreading out on her flustered face.

"Keiko-chan," Botan whispered gently as she glanced at the thin door cautiously, hoping that no one had heard her friend's outburst, "we musn't let anyone hear about that, especially Genkai-sama. Although she's a tough one, she _does _care about our well-being, and drinking at the party will certainly be out of the question if she hears about it. Plus," the bluenette added nervously as she quickly glanced at Shizuru, who had a cigarette hanging casually out of her lips and struggled with her lighter, "Yukina-chan might want to know exactly what 'alcohol' is." Then, very slowly, the usual chipper woman removed her hand off of Keiko's face as the girl glared at her.

"Then maybe we shouldn't have it," she said simply, folding her thin arms across her modest chest. Botan swallowed down a whimper as she gave her friend a frightened expression, feeling her violet drops tear up slightly. She clasped her pale hands together, making a rather loud clap as Botan leaned in closer to the host of the soon-to-be masquerade, making herself look as pitiful as possible.

"Come on, Keiko-chan. Please, don't take away our privileges for the drinks," she whined as she threw her arms around the brunette's slim waist. Shizuru chuckled into her fist before taking a long drag while Keiko began to pry off Botan's strong arms off of her body.

"Botan-chan, quit groveling. You've never pleaded like _this _before." Botan buried her face into Keiko's side, rubbing her nose against the bones that stuck out there. Keiko groaned with annoyance dribbling off of the sound. "Please Botan…"

"You know what she wants," Shizuru said in a strained voice as she coughed out the dark grey smoke. Keiko rolled her eyes while Botan's vice grip seemed to tighten even more. "Just give in. Hell, I, for one, would love it if you would allow the drinks to flow in." Botan, hearing this with her sensitive ears, pulled away slightly and stared at the brunette with wide, gleaming amethyst drops.

"Hai, and Yukina-chan did hear the mention of drinks… Wouldn't it be a little disappointing if there weren't anything to conquer thirst at the masquerade?" Keiko narrowed her eyes at Reikai's trusted ferrier, making the startled woman to loosen the sudden embrace. Shizuru nearly laughed at this as she took a puff of the tobacco stick.

"You two really will say anything to get your way, right?," stated the irritated young onna as beads of nervous sweat trickled down her hot cheeks. The eldest of the group nodded her nod lazily as Botan gulped down a stunned cry and nodded as well. Keiko heaved a sigh. "I'll contemplate the idea…"

"Breakfast's ready!," they all heard Yukina call out from the kitchen as their tummies grumbled once more. Botan squealed eagerly as she released her anaconda-like grip on Keiko as she bolted out of the room, forgetting the ordeal that had happened a few moments ago. Keiko, stunned that the argument had ended abruptly, blinked a few times as her much taller friend helped her to her feet. Shizuru winked at the onna as she flicked the cigarette out of her mouth.

"Just listen to Botan, Keiko-chan. I know she can be a ditz, but you know when it comes to parties like this, she can't contain herself," she advised her young galpal, who only meekly nodded as they walked out of the room silently.


End file.
